This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-69432 filed Nov. 8, 2001 in the Korean Patent Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to one-unit type air conditioners and, more particularly, to a one-unit type air conditioner having a partition wall used for dividing the interior of a cabinet into an outdoor section and an indoor section, a support extended from said partition wall toward the indoor section, and a reinforcing flange extended from said partition wall toward the outdoor section.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional air conditioners are classified into two types: one-unit type air conditioners wherein an evaporator for cooling room air, a compressor and a condenser for compressing and cooling refrigerant are installed in a single cabinet to form a single unit; and split type air conditioners wherein the evaporator is enclosed in an indoor cabinet and the compressor and condenser are enclosed in an outdoor cabinet to form an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. In such a one-unit type air conditioner, the interior of the single cabinet is partitioned into an indoor section and an outdoor section. An evaporator is installed in the indoor section while a compressor and a condenser are installed in the outdoor section. In order to partition the interior of the single cabinet into the indoor and outdoor sections, a partition wall is set in the cabinet.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a one-unit type air conditioner having a conventional partition wall. As shown in the drawing, the parts of the one-unit type air conditioner are enclosed in a box-shaped single cabinet 1, the interior of which is partitioned into an indoor section and an outdoor section by a partition wall 20. Installed in the indoor section defined in front of the partition wall 20 inside the cabinet 1 are an evaporator 2 for cooling room air and a sirocco fan 3 for sucking room air into the indoor section to make the room air pass through the evaporator 2 so as be cooled prior to being expelled into a room. The outdoor section seats a compressor 11 for compressing refrigerant flowing in a closed refrigerant circuit, a condenser 12 for cooling the hot refrigerant, and a propeller fan 13 sucking atmospheric air into the outdoor section to make it pass through the condenser 12. In order to drive both the sirocco fan 3 of the indoor section and the propeller fan 13 of the outdoor section during an operation of the air conditioner, a fan motor 14 is installed in the outdoor section.
In the indoor section, the sirocco fan 3 is installed in a first fan casing 4 disposed in front of the partition wall 20 while the evaporator 2 is mounted to the front surface of an evaporator support frame 5 arranged in front of the first fan casing 4. In the outdoor section, a motor bracket 15 for holding the fan motor 14 is mounted to the rear surface of the partition wall 20, and a second fan casing 16 is installed in a rear side of the motor bracket 15. The propeller fan 13 is mounted in the second fan casing 16. A front panel 6 having both an air suction grille and an air exhaust grille covers the front end of the cabinet 1 while an air filter 7 is disposed between the front panel 6 and the evaporator 2 for filtering air flowing from the front panel 6 to the evaporator 2. A rear panel (not shown) having an air exhaust grille for expelling atmospheric air from the cabinet 1 to the atmosphere covers the rear end of the cabinet 1 while a plurality of air suction grilles 17 are formed on the top and side walls of the cabinet 1.
During an operation of the one-unit type air conditioner, the fan motor 14 and the compressor 11 are operated. Room air is thus sucked into the indoor section of the cabinet 1 through the air suction grille of the front panel 6 by the fan motor 14, passes through the evaporator 2 so as to be cooled, and then is discharged into the room through the air exhaust grille of the front panel 6. In the mean time, atmospheric air is sucked into the outdoor section of the cabinet 1 through the air suction grilles 17 formed on the top and side walls of the cabinet 1, and cools the condenser 12 prior to being discharged to the atmosphere through the air exhaust grille of the rear panel (not shown).
In such a one-unit type air conditioner, the partition wall 20 isolates the outdoor section from the indoor section, thus preventing room air in the indoor section from being undesirably mixed with atmospheric air flowing in the outdoor section. The partition wall 20 also intercepts operational noise generated from both the compressor 11 and the propeller fan 13 disposed inside the outdoor section, and so the partition wall 20 prevents the noise from being transmitted to the room through the indoor section. Another function of the partition wall 20 is for supporting both the evaporator support frame 5 and the first fan casing 4 set in the indoor section of the cabinet 1.
As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional partition wall 20 is produced by bending the opposite side edges of a rectangular panel such that the partition wall 20 has two flanges. That is, this partition wall 20 includes a plate part 21 transversely arranged in the interior of the cabinet 1 to partition the interior into the indoor section and the outdoor section, a left flange 22, and a right flange 23. The left flange 22 and the right flange 23 are formed along the opposite sides of the plate part 21 by bending the opposite side edges of the partition wall 20 at an angle of about 90xc2x0 such that the two flanges 22 and 23 are directed toward the indoor section. The two flanges 22 and 23 hold both the first fan casing 4 and the evaporator support frame 5. A plurality of screw holes 22a are formed along the edge of the left flange 22.
The evaporator support frame 5, assembled with the partition wall 20, is bent along its left edge at an angle of about 90xc2x0 such that a flange 5a directed toward the partition wall 20 is provided at the left side of the frame 5. A plurality of screw holes 5b are formed along the flange 5a at positions corresponding to the screw holes 22a of the partition wall""s left flange 22, and so the flange 5a of the frame 5 is screwed to the left flange 22 of the partition wall 20.
FIG. 3 shows the evaporator support frame 5 and the conventional partition wall 20 which are completely assembled with each other. As shown in the drawing, the partition wall 20 has the left flange 22, which is formed by bending the left edge of the partition wall 20 at an angle of 90xc2x0 such that the flange 22 is formed along the left side of the plate part 21 while being directed toward the indoor section. In addition, the evaporator support frame 5 has the flange 5a with a predetermined width. This flange 5a is formed along the left side of the frame 5, and has the screw holes 5b corresponding to those of the left flange 22 of the partition wall 20 as shown in FIG. 2. Therefore, the evaporator support frame 5 is assembled with the partition wall 20 by driving a plurality of screws 10 into the aligned screw holes 5b and 22a of the two flanges 5a and 22 after the frame 5 is arranged relative to the partition wall 20 while the fan casing 4 having the sirocco fan 3 is disposed between the frame 5 and the partition wall 20.
However, the conventional partition wall 20 is problematic in that its left flange 22 wastes the material of the partition wall 20 since the flange 20 unnecessarily extends along the entire length of the side edge of the plate part 21 even though the flange 22 has a limited function of mounting the evaporator support frame 5 to the partition wall 20. Such wasteful consumption of the material caused by the flange 22 increases the production cost of the partition wall 20, and results in an increase in the price of one-unit type air conditioners, and thereby reduces market competitiveness of such air conditioners.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a one-unit type air conditioner having a structurally improved partition wall designed to save the material thereof in an effort to reduce the production cost of such one-unit type air conditioners.
In order to accomplish the above and other objects, the present invention provides a one-unit type air conditioner having a cabinet defining an appearance of the air conditioner, a partition wall dividing an interior of the cabinet into sections, and a fan casing and an evaporator support frame installed in the cabinet in front of the partition wall. The the partition wall comprises: a plate part transversely arranged in the interior of the cabinet to partition the interior into an indoor section and an outdoor section, and a frame support part formed by cutting a part of the plate part to form a piece having a predetermined size, and bending the piece toward the indoor section.
In the one-unit type air conditioner of the present invention, the frame support part is spaced at a base thereof apart from the edge of the plate part by a predetermined distance. Thus a margin is disposed between the base of the frame support part and the edge of the plate part and is bent toward the outdoor section to form a reinforcing flange for increasing strength of the frame support part.
The frame support part has a length almost equal to the thickness of the fan casing, and is provided with a screw hole at the outside end thereof for being assembled with the evaporator support frame using a screw.
In addition, the frame support part is provided with an embossed portion for increasing the strength of the frame support part.